Black desk top after update

JohnEdg · 17 Oct 2025 at 09:32

Hi folks
I'm not a technical bloke and I am quite old at 76 and in need of some help.
New PC running Windows 11 Pro. Update install last night, the PC is a few days old, and now my desktop is black. The cursor is there as are all of the task bar icons and the normal stuff on the main part of the desktop.

I've had a big issue trying to use an email pst backup for newly installed Office 365 and that's not been resolved so any advice would be very much appreciated.
I have managed to install all of my saved backups for documents etc but now I am stuck

iamgigglz · 17 Oct 2025 at 09:39

Morning. When you say your desktop is black, do you mean your wallpaper has disappeared?

JohnEdg said:
The cursor is there as are all of the task bar icons and the normal stuff on the main part of the desktop.

So you have all your desktop shortcuts, documents etc? I'm just trying to understand what is actually missing.

JohnEdg · 17 Oct 2025 at 09:49

Yes everything is there but the whole screen is now black instead of it being as it was when I first started the PC

iamgigglz · 17 Oct 2025 at 10:01

Assuming it's just your wallapaper that's been lost somehow, navigate to the picture, right click and select "Set as Desktop Background".
If you were just using a Windows built-in wallapaper, you can right click on the black desktop, select Personalize, select Background and make your choice from there.

JohnEdg · 17 Oct 2025 at 10:15

Thank you. Yes that was spot on. The original desktop had the builders logo on it but I don't know where that's gone to but it's no longer a black background so thank you very much for your help. Any thoughts on the email issues

iamgigglz · 17 Oct 2025 at 10:27

JohnEdg said:
Any thoughts on the email issues

This should be it

darael · 17 Oct 2025 at 10:28

As far as I understand it, Office 365 is cloud based and you can only use those PST files on an app/program that's installed on to your computer where your files are held locally.

I would try installing the Outlook app and seeing if it lets you import the PST files.

Link to the Outlook app: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nrx63209r7b

JohnEdg · 17 Oct 2025 at 10:39

Cheers Gents. Time for a coffee and then I will try to sort the email using your suggestions.

JohnEdg · 18 Oct 2025 at 13:48

Ok guy's this is interesting. I went into email located in Control panel and removed the single profile. Once that was done the ongoing request for the .pst password didn't happen. I set up the email IMAP and just did as it asked. Once that was done the email programme opened and initially I thought that all that had been downloaded was stuff from the last couple of days but when I changed the view to pre-view on each folder everything was there
I couldn't believe it to be honest. I checked my BT online email account and everything was there
No need for the. pst file at all. Problem solved and such an easy solution.

Many thanks for your interest and help

iamgigglz · 20 Oct 2025 at 09:03

This is the way forward. As much as I hate not having complete local control of my files etc, having them stored in the cloud is so much easier & more robust.
"Oh no my PC exploded and I have to reinstall Windows...oh well..."

JohnEdg · 20 Oct 2025 at 12:17

I just have photos and documents on my PC. To be honest having a local external hard drive backup works for me. I keep it in a fireproof box so fingers crossed it is happy there.